Most Most of us have experienced times when our faith falters or feels weak.

We have doubts, or we struggle to understand what the Bible is saying.

Does that mean our salvation is shaky?

We're going to hear an encouraging message today from Alistair Begg on Truth for Life

as he examines Jesus' response to similar weaknesses within his inner circle.

We're continuing a study of Jesus' high-prie priestly prayer.

You'll find that in Chapter 17 of John's Gospel.

Well, you know, when you watch somebody, for example, paint,

sometimes when they do that outdoors and you come alongside them. If you're to stand behind

them and see what they're doing, you may catch something of their imagination or certainly

of their ability to take what they see and translate it onto a canvas. To hear somebody play a musical instrument, provides

us with an opportunity, perhaps to be stirred in a way that doesn't happen on any other occasion.

But to listen in as somebody prays is to be made privy to the very essential longings of the human heart.

Spurgeon, when he was teaching his students in this respect, he said to them,

when you are a pastor in a church, you can invite someone else to preach for you, but don't invite anybody

else to do your pastoral prayer. And what he meant by that, of course, was your awareness

of your congregation and their awareness of you that will come out clearly in prayer.

Now, I say all of that by way of introduction, because here we are joining the

disciples as they are given the opportunity to listen to the Lord Jesus as he prays.

They are within the threshold hours away from all the agony of Calvary, and they doubtless put their hands over their mouths as

they heard Jesus begin to pray first of all for himself, and then quite remarkably,

to begin to pray for them.

...